Benedikt Sobotka made a stand against child labour at cobalt mines

16 Nov Benedikt Sobotka made a stand against child labour at cobalt mines

Benedikt Sobotka: We have a responsibility towards children in countries where our organization extracts unprocessed trash for your batteries industry.

Hydrocarbons remain the main supply of energy in 2019. Nevertheless, people in civilized world have become increasingly choosing electric cars, as petrol and diesel engines emit fractional co2 Benedikt Sobotka into the atmosphere and pollute air with nitrogen and sulphur compounds. The number of electric cars will reach up to 130 million right at the end of 2030 and every home and office may use smart devices ran by batteries. Oslo, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Madrid already stated that they’ll ban all vehicles implementing petrol or diesel fuel in central areas. The way everything is going, batteries will replace the environmentally damaging coal and oil as fuel sources.

Minerals for batteries has to be extracted and processed with robust safety standards, proper working conditions, norms for responsible extraction and business ethics at heart.

Global social responsibility

Take, as an example, cobalt. Over 60 % of cobalt are extracted inside the Democratic Republic from the Congo. Cobalt mining brings a lot of employment for folks all around DRC but a large percentage could possibly be tainted by illegal child labour.

In 2017, world leading companies including BASF, Enel and Volkswagen met in the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to talk about business ethics in minerals extraction for the output of batteries. As a result, the companies gathered to found the Global Battery Alliance, with Eurasian Resources Group as being a founding member, aimed at prohibiting the use of child labour and promoting battery recycling to increase the sustainability of the industry.

The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka reiterated the business’s resolve for help tackle child labour inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He hopes that through the Alliance and collaboration between major companies, international organisations and civil society, the illegal involvement of children in mining inside battery supply chain will probably be addressed.

Eurasian Resources Group supports children inside the DRC

Through longstanding partnerships including with all the Good Shepherd Sisters and Pact, Eurasian Resources Group targets helping tackle child labour and strengthen child protection norms.

In 2018 and early 2019, ERG continued to aid greater than 10,000 students through its educational initiatives inside DRC.

Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, holds that this global battery sector should confer benefits to its participants throughout the value chain including children and local communities inside the DRC.